He Sure Gets Around: Alternative Tyler Pairings
by Spiga
Summary: A series of  mostly  unconnected oneshots revolving around rare or alternate Tyler pairings. Because everyone loves Forbewood, but variety is the spice of life. Featuring Bennetwood, Jyler and a few monsters of my own making.
1. Caroline

So this little pet project that I'll be working on in my spare time will be my attempt to explore alternate pairings and alternate scenarios for Tyler Lockwood. First, we start up with Forbewood. The classic and canon Tyler pairing that is a fan favorite, and will no doubt be the cause of much fan rioting if the show runners go the obvious route that they're angling for, have Hybrid!Tyler ( I can't believe I have to type that now. _Gaaaah_!) get drunk on power and be killed off to create more wangst for Caroline. You know Damon will be the one to do it too and he'll probably straight up wreck Tyler's shit with no effort even though he's a hybrid (_Gaaaah_!). Damon will also probably follow it up with a smug one liner about mongrels, and then face no consequences except maybe a mild tongue lashing from Elena. I also wanted to flex my Forbewood muscle a bit since I've probably written about them…once.

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><p><em><strong>****Forbewood: Against All Odds\******_

He hates himself for how he feels about her. It's not that he doesn't want to love her, it's not that he's ashamed of her. He's ashamed of himself because there's some part of him, some dark and slithering thing in the back of his mind that finds her repulsive. Offensive. Maybe it's the fact that when she lays next to him in bed, naked as a jaybird and far more interesting to look at she doesn't breath. She does when she's conscious, but Stefan says that's a vestigial habit. Being undead she doesn't actually need air and when she sleeps…she's still and cold as a corpse. It like laying in bed with a dead body.

Or maybe it's something else. Maybe that slinking darkness that prowls through his thoughts and tells him that he should shudder every time she touches him. That demands he gag every time he touches her is something deeper and more savage than that. Maybe that's the wolf inside, the thing that sees vampires as prey. As enemies. The thing that would rip her to pieces with its teeth and scatter her remains across the forest.

It doesn't matter. He doesn't care what anyone says. Not Jules, not his mother, and certainly not Damon Fucking Salvatore. There are times when he honestly considers taking out the murdering asshole the next time the full moon comes around. Jules taught him techniques, how to "mark" certain prey so his wolf self would attack it but there's no guarantee innocent people wouldn't be hurt in the process and Caroline made him promise he would play nice when around Damon. So he doesn't let the taunts and threats get to him for Caroline's sake. Besides, this whole vampire/werewolf war bullshit has done enough damage to his life. He promised Caroline and his love for her is stronger than all the animal instincts in the world.

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><p>I created this project in between waiting for more inspiration to finish up the new chapter of Wolves on the Run and tinkering with the mythology and timeline of Dogs of War. Basically, it's almost impossible to find a Tyler fic that doesn't center around him and Caroline. Since he's basically just a Caroline appendage on the show, this doesn't surprise me. Finding a fic where he's paired up with someone other than Caroline, Jeremy or the occasional and coveted Tylena pairing? Ha! Good luck. I can count the number of DamonTyler and Tyler/Katherine fics on one hand. And not just on . _Anywhere_.

So this is my little laboratory if you will, where I'll mix and match different Tyler pairings. Maybe one or two will take off, but that's not why I'm doing this. I'm doing this mostly as a writing exorcise and add a few unique side dishes to the delicious buffet of Jyler and Forbewood on .

Here are a few (tentative) previews of what's kind of going on in the back of my head as far as future installments.

Vicki: The fact of the matter was he never had any idea how miserable he had made her and it really sucks that she would never know, that despite all the fighting and screaming and cheating and dysfunction, how happy she had made him. (An alternate look at Vicki's death and their relationship through Tyler's eyes as well as an exploration of season 1 Tyler.)

Elena: He's had a taste of her blood, now he wants to taste something else. And it's not like anyone in town can stop him now that he's a hybrid. (Takes place after The Reckoning, and examines how Hybrid!Tyler deals with being the most powerful supernatural being in Mystic Falls. Also, expect epic ranting on the Hybrid Tyler plotline as well as hybrids in general.)

Bonnie: What is it with him and falling for girls who come to his rescue…what is it with him always needing to be rescued? He's a werewolf now isn't he? Isn't that supposed to make him more badass than before? But Bonnie is the baddest of all asses, and he wonders if maybe that's why he finds her so attractive. (Assumes that the Sun and Moon curse is true and Jules and her pack got everything they need for the ritual. Everything but a witch, that's where Bonnie comes in.)

Jeremy: Their relationship isn't all sunshine and roses, and the little geek still annoys the fuck out of him. The best part is that Jeremy doesn't insist they cuddle afterwards. (A more begrudging romance than what is normally portrayed. This'll be my first slashfic.)

Katherine: The truth about why Sarah attacked him hits him like a ton of bricks and the night after he's gone from Mystic Falls to track the evil bitch down and stake her ass. The last thing he intended was to fall in love with the woman who ruined his life, and he's ashamed of himself for it. The booze and his latent crush on Elena helps. (Tyler/Katherine seems to be something of a minor cult crack pairing despite the fact that these two might have said two words to each other of the course of the show. I can see why though, Katherine did have a major impact on Tyler's life, even if he never finds out.)

Damon: The sweetest part is the look of heartbreak on the bastard's face when Tyler puts the wooden stake where it belongs, in the heart that was starting to thaw for the werewolf. Now it's Tyler's turn to penetrate Damon. (Damon/Tyler seems to be another minor crack pairing. Based on a misunderstanding I had the first time I read a summary of the events of the season finale. I thought Damon had killed Mayor Lockwood, though a quick reread fixed that. Also considering that Damon killed Vicki and Tyler's uncle Mason, I thought a revenge tale would be a good spin on this pairing.)

Kelly: He had wondered if maybe sleeping with Vicki's mother would help make him forget, or at least make him feel a bit better. Instead it just makes him feel worse. He's gone before he wakes up, and that makes him feel bad too. (Of course, based on the infamous MILF scene following Vicki's death. Something of a continuation of the Vicki oneshot, may also have elements of the supposed deleted scene that revealed Kelly was a succubus.)

Klaus: His sire is a really crappy mentor, partly because he's new to this hybrid stuff too but also because he's so damn crazy. On the other hand he's way more fun than Jules and Tyler's always wanted to see Europe. (Based on the premise that Klaus took "his hybrid" when he left Mystic Falls in The Reckoning. Possibly a slash fic, but it could wind up being more mentor/student or bromance than anything.)

Jules: He's the only thing standing between the woman he's come to love as more than just a teacher and the oldest, meanest bloodsucking bastard to ever walk the earth and for the first time he doesn't fight the transformation but wills it to go faster. He sees the briefest glint of trepidation in the Original's bloodshot eyes and with Jules helpless on the ground behind him he plants his feet and roars. Game on, Klaus. (Another fic that assumes the Sun and Moon Curse is true and Klaus is trying to break the curse to prevent werewolves from regaining their full power. Also an attempt to address the criminal lack of Jules fics.)

Jenna: How is he supposed to help her through her transition into a vampire? Everything he knows about them revolves around tracking and killing them, and he's just lost the only two people who ever tried to help him. Somehow though, he makes it easier for her to bare and he hopes that saving Jenna will somehow be penance for what he did to Caroline. (Thrown in on a whim, because I realized that Jenna is pretty much the only main character Tyler never met in the show. The premise is that both Jules and Caroline were sacrificed by Klaus to break the hybrid curse. Might wind up more a friendship fic than a couple.)

Rose: After he saved her from the werewolf bite by feeding her his blood he wonders if maybe some of those crappy paranormal romance novels have a point about some connection forming between a vampire and those they feed on. When he tells her his theory she laughs, calls him a romantic idiot and shoves him down onto the bed. (When Rose, and latter Damon, were bitten one fan theory about the cure was that werewolf blood, or the blood of the werewolf who bit them, could save a vampire who'd been infected. It was a theory I liked, and when I decided to start this project it was one that led me right to poor Rose.)

Lexi: After the massacre at Mystic Falls where he lost everyone he loved she found him in Florida. Hunting down human murderers and rapists in human form and targeting vampires every moonrise, but heedless to how many innocent people got in his way. She's never helped a werewolf before, but she's always loved a challenge. (Probably more of a one sided crush on Tyler's part. I always liked Lexi, and I'm still a bit miffed that Damon never really got his comeuppance for killing her.)

Isobel: She says something to him in French he doesn't understand but the expression on her face tells him more than words ever could. He responds by pinning her to the wall and slipping his tongue into her mouth. Both of them wonder if tonight is the night the other will betray them. By the time she throws him to the floor and starts clawing off his pants while he tears off her shirt with his teeth neither one of them are very much interested in ancient blood feuds or espionage. (Ah yes, my pet crack ship. Muahahahaha.)

If anyone out there has any suggestions, feel free to bring them up them. I'll accept crossover requests as well as long as I know what the other property is.


	2. Vicki

**The Readers:**

Cheerleadergirl: Saddly, I'm not familiar with One Tree Hill or Glee, but I suppose I could do some research into the characters and try to pump out some quick ficlets if my spare time allows it. Tyler/Ruby sounds like it might be fun, as does Tyler/Bela. I've definitly taken your suggestion under advisement! :D

Gem158: Glad you're looking forward to it. Tyler/Katherine is one I'm looking forward towards writing.

So here's the second oneshot, one that takes a look at where Tyler kind of is during season one as a character, and how I think he would deal with loss. I also don't think there's a name for the Vicki/Tyler pairing, so I just made one up on a whim. It sucks, but what are you gonna do?

There's also the tiniest, most painful little hint of Forbewood at the end.

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><p><strong>****Lockovan: One Chance He'll Never Have\******

"_No, wait, this isn't supposed to happen. It isn't supposed to happen like this. I'm supposed to get a second chance. I want a second chance. I'm Tyler Fucking Lockwood and I always get what I want. I _need _a second chance. I saw what I did wrong; I know how I screwed up. I'll do it better this time I promise. Not like this, it's not supposed to end like this. She's supposed to be with me. She's supposed to be mine. I could have any girl in this town, but I want her."_

A lot sucks about Vicki's death.

It sucks that no one knows how she died, it sucks that her body was so decomposed that they had to have a closed casket ceremony. It sucks that Tyler will never see her again in school, even if she ultimately choose that little Jeremy dweeb over him. It sucks he'll never have to make amends for how horribly he treated her, it sucks that he'll never get the chance to get on his knees and beg her for a second chance like he should have before but his damned Lockwood stubbornness and pride prevented him from doing.

He keeps his peace, swallows his grief and walks on standing tall just like his parents taught him. It wouldn't do for the heir to the proud Lockwood family legacy to break down crying in the middle of football practice over white trash like Vicki Donovan. He never lets his sorrow show to the people around him just like he never showed Vicki how much she really meant to him.

What really sucks is the fact that he's pretty sure she died hating him. He'd known they'd been having problems, but right up until the end when she had walked away from him for the last time he'd thought that that was just the way couples were because frankly that's the way things were in his house hold. The fact of the matter was he never had any idea how miserable he had made her and it really sucks that she would never know, that despite all the fighting and screaming and cheating and dysfunction, how happy she had made him.

So he sits and listens to the pastor speak of all the other, more obvious tragedies of Vicki's death. The holy man laments how she would never graduate from high school, amusing since some would argue that Vicki wouldn't have graduated even if she lived, and while that had been a common insult Tyler would hurl at her in the midst of their fights, when he hears other people say it his lips curl and his hands tighten into fists. The pastor reminds them that she would never graduate college, and he actually hears a few people snicker at the thought. Tyler fights the urge to start handing out asskickings because he knew that she was damn well capable of it, sure she would have had to get her shit together but if she needed a good kick in the ass he would have provided it because he would never have been with an uneducated woman.

The pastor moves on to latter events in Vicki's life that would never come to pass. Marriage (Tyler always liked the sound of Vicki Lockwood) or the birth of her children (that's a laugh, Vicki told Tyler she hated kids and would probably balk at the idea of giving up her kick-ass body to the ravages of pregnancy and childbirth.) and other little milestones in her life. As the old man talks, Tyler starts to tune him out. He wraps himself up in his own loss and pays no mind to the loss of others. His vision closes in to a narrow field, his eyes only on Vicki's casket. He doesn't see the raw, flowing tears of Matt. All he hears is Vicki's voice as she breaks it off with him, so he can't listen to the shuddering sobs of Vicki's mother.

In a way, he doesn't really want to care about other people's grief because he's afraid it might be too much for him to bear alone. He _is _alone, and that loneliness threatens to swallow him up. Vicki would have made it easier. He didn't feel so isolated and static when they had been together. The anger, the frustration. It had all been worth it because when he had been with her all his emotions had felt real and wild and completely and utterly out of control and he _liked it_.

And as they lower Vicki, _his _Vicki, the one who belongs to _him_, into the ground he gets the low and cold feeling in his gut that he'll never feel that way again. After the funeral Caroline comes up to him to offer her regards, she's the only high school kid who does.

He barely listens to what she has to say and shrugs off her hand when she places it on his arm. Caroline Forbes' neurosis is the last thing in the world he wants to deal with.

"_And now I can't have her anymore and there's this big sucking hole in my stomach. I want Vicki. I want what's _mine_. I'll do better this time, I promise. _

_Just give me one more chance and I'll fix it. I promise. Just one more chance."_

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><p>The title has more to do with the quotes book ending the actual story itself. While they may seem slightly disconnected I imagine that's what went through Tyler's mind when he heard that Vicki was dead. If Tyler seems slightly selfish and a bit offputting…well, yeah. It's season one Tyler.<p>

He's kind of a dick.

But he's also kind of pathetic and miserable, which is kind of what I think of season one Tyler too, so I definitly tried to add a bit of tragedy to the story. He's still the bullying, spoiled, entitled kid from season one but he's not a complete monster. He's a human being capable of love and affection and heartache. What do you think of the opening and closing quotes. I think I might do it for all the entries…or just when I feel like it. Yay or nay?


	3. Rose

Gem: Well, it's largely just my interpertation of that relationship. I wanted it to kind of ring true to the characters though, especially season 1 Tyler. As for Rebekah...yeah, probably. The current one I'm working on is the Jules fic though. And as I said I'm not really keeping to any schedule with this project, I'm just writing when the inspiration hits me.

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><p><strong>****Rosewood: Thicker Than Blood\******

_Damon throws him to the bedroom floor and he gets up and tries to run but the vampire moves faster than Tyler's eyes can follow and before the new werewolf can make it three steps towards the door he's thrown onto the bed. He realizes that someone else other than Damon is in the room with him, someone who smells like rotting meat and dried blood. He looks up…_

_And the ghoulishly pale female vampire standing over him sinks her fangs into his neck._

"Want me to rough him up for you?"

It's funny, because the last time he was in a relationship he was the one asking his girlfriend if she wanted him to beat up some jerk who pissed her off. Tyler sighed to himself and practically threw his football helmet to the floor.

"I thought you were with Alaric trying to track down a way to kill Klaus?" Tyler asked.

Rose laughed at that as she entered his room.

"Five centuries of running from Elijah and searching for a way to free ourselves from him and we found nothing. I don't think taking the afternoon off to be with my favorite werewolf is going to make a difference."

Tyler shook his head; sometimes Rose's pessimism was really distressing. The constant cynicism didn't do wonders for his disposition. Between his monthly werewolf transformations, the constant threat of Klaus and Stefan coming back to finish what they started, and Damon giving him the evil eye Tyler needed as many good vibes in his life as possible. Caroline's endless enthusiasm helped but it would be nice if Rose could at least go twenty minutes without mentioning the fact that Klaus was now a hybrid and even more unkillable than ever before and how they were all going to die when he came back. On the other hand he liked that she called him her favorite werewolf, though to be fair right now he was her only werewolf.

Then something hit him. Rose didn't talk a lot about her past, most of what he knew he learned from either Elena or from sitting in when the "Scooby Gang" gathered to discuss the Klaus situation which was rare considering that Damon was often there.

"Wait, 'we'?" he asked.

Rose paused, looked away from him.

"You have another boyfriend I should know about?" he joked, taking a step forward and putting his hands on her shoulders.

Rose looked up at him, smiling, but Tyler could see the sadness in her eyes.

"No, no one for you to worry about." Rose whispered but she shrugged him off and turned away from him.

Tyler frowned, Jules said that werewolves had the ability to sense lies but she had died before he had been able to master that power. That sucked, because it would have been a freaking awesome ability to have at moments like these. Rose had a tendency to tell him half truths, especially when it came to her past. Tyler frowned but nodded, dropping the subject. Over five hundred years…that was a long time to be walking the earth. Plenty of time to accumulate plenty of loved ones and lose more than a few of them too. She'd tell him when she was ready.

"As long as you give me fair warning before I have to beat'em off with a stick." Tyler joked, following Rose as she paced towards his writing desk.

"Speaking of beatings…" Rose said turning to Tyler. "I repeat my earlier question. Do you want me to take care of Damon for you?"

"Now you know there's nothing that turns me on quicker than the sight of you kicking major vampire ass." Tyler said as he stepped up to Rose, who laughed. "And while I think Damon could use a good ass-kicking I don't want you to worry about it."

"And may I ask why not?" Rose inquired, smirking. She already knew the answer; it was the same answer she always got.

"Because if not for Damon being such a dick, I would never have met you."

For the briefest moment, Rose face twists and he sees tears glimmer in the corner of her eyes, then she leans her forehead against his and he wraps his arms around her. Because for the briefest moment, they both believe that everything is going to be okay.

Yeah, the kidnapping and subsequent blood-loss was definitely worth it.

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><p>Not really feeling this pairing, but I think the story is short, sweet and to the point. Tell me what you guys think! Also: fic updates all around!<p>

Dogs of War: I'm actually messing around with the combined mythology of the two shows this story crosses over a bit. The fourth chapter is mostly written though, and I'm just hovering around an ending.

Only Alive in the Face of Death: I think I might add a third and final chapter and then let it end. If I want to write any more Flemmingwood (Is that any good? I'm terrible at naming pairings. Lockovan being a rare exception and Rosewood just being obvious.) fics they'll go here.

Wolves on the Run: It's funny, because I know exactly where I want to go with this fic but my ideas just aren't organizing themselves on the page properly. Don't know if that makes any sense.

New Story Idea: I know, another one? But this probably won't make it past the concept stage, maybe I'm throwing it out there in the subconcious hope that someone takes the idea and runs with it. I was thinking about how werewolves in TVD universe run in packs and of course my mind always strays to those months Tyler was away from Mystic Falls. Wolves are social animals, much like humans they're engineered to need contact with other members of their species for their own psychological health. What if during the summer between Season's Two and Three Tyler becomes lonely for contact with other werewolves? What if he goes looking for some, risking alienating Caroline or even angering Damon who thinks he's going looking for reinforcements? Again, just an idea. If anyone wants to take it for their own, be my guest. In fact, if anyone wants to put their own spin on He Sure Gets Around, they're more than welcome to it.


	4. Jules

This is an AU take on season 3. In this, the Sun and the Moon curse was true. No silly little hybrids, no ridiculous siring Deus Ex Machina. Just good old fashioned werewolves and vampires.

I think this is, easily, my best work in fanfic ever. I guess having a broken ankle pushed me into some kind of higher state of writing conciousness or something. Lawz. Consider this your delayed Christmas Present.

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><p><strong>****Juleswood: Bonds not Easily Broken******

Tyler hates this.

Standing around his house. Twiddling his thumbs. He can't even call up his friends because…well, they weren't his friends anymore. Matt hates him now that he's with Caroline, or maybe because he's a werewolf or maybe because secretly he always hated him. He hasn't really talked to anyone else since breaking the curse, he's been spending every moment of free time with either his mother or Caroline. And now he's sitting in his bedroom, counting cracks in the wall that he made when he dished out a severe beating to it the day after he found out his father had died. He should be out there, fighting the good fight with Caroline and Elena and even Damon. He should be making a contribution, pouring through old history books. Grilling his mom for ancient Mystic Falls vampire lore. Something. _Anything_.

"_Don't worry about this Tyler. I don't want you in the middle of it." _

Caroline wants him to be safe, he understands that. He _likes _that. Most of the time he _likes _that she's been going all crazy overprotective vampire girlfriend. It's sweet and endearing and cute and most of all it lets him know that she cares about him. For the first time in a long time, someone other than his mother (and yes, he begrudgingly admits his father too) really, truly cares about him. Not just how strong he was, not just what advantage he gives to the football team or the fact that he was the mayor's son. Caroline loves him just for him.

He's never had that before.

And it makes him hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe he might get a shot at being happy. More than anyone else, Caroline saved him. She saved him from himself, from the person he used to be and the thing he used to become. That being said…

"_This isn't your fight, Tyler."_

Wasn't it though?

Klaus had spent that last seven hundred years tracking down and exterminating werewolves. Tyler was a werewolf. Ergo, he was on Klaus' hit list. He knew it, Caroline knew it, everyone else did too. More than that though, if Caroline was helping Elena and Damon then that meant that when the time came to throw down with the biggest, baddest vampire to ever walk the Earth then Caroline would be on the front lines. _She _was in danger, _she _was at risk. When it came right down to it, he would rather die quick fighting at her side than wither and die slow knowing she died in the fight Klaus while he sat around Lockwood manor watching his mom's tivo'd episodes of Desperate Housewives. He had argued with Caroline until he was blue in the face but in the end he had finally relented even though he knows he could be useful. He was stronger than a human even in his human form. He was faster, he had werewolf senses. Jules had said he was a naturally gifted tracker, so maybe if they needed to find someone? Alaric was helping them, and he was only human albeit a very skilled vampire hunter. Yet surely his enhanced abilities made him just as useful to the cause as Alaric's skills in vampire hunting? And then, there was that other thing.

The curse was broken.

Tyler could transform at will.

He didn't want to, knew that just because the curse was broken it didn't mean the transformation would be any less painful or frightening or downright humiliating. Knew that he still couldn't really control himself in wolf form but Damon and Elena were clever. Surely they could come up with something? Lock him in a room with one of Klaus' underlings and threaten to let him go werewolf on them if they didn't spill? Toss Klaus into a pit and then dump him in there too while he was in the final stage of transformation? Something? _Anything_? Tyler hated being a werewolf, hated the transformation. His greatest fear is that somehow, some way the curse will come back. He got lucky that night, he had apparently followed the scent of Damon's already festering werewolf bite to the scene of the sacrifice. Klaus had been distracted in the fight with Elijah and his witch was being used as a chew toy by Damon. Jenna, Jules and Elena had already been sacrificed that meant that the final step of the ritual had to be completed and regardless of who had started it all that mattered was who finished it. The moonstone was the lock that bound everything together, it had to be destroyed for the curse to be broken and even in his wolf form, he had had the presence of mind to know what must be done. He ignored his instinct to destroy vampires, ignored his gnawing hunger and rage and lunacy and shattered the moonstone with a single blow.

Okay, so maybe he was just as much a danger to the good guys as the bad guys when he was like that but so is Damon. Tyler thinks back to the time Jeremy told him Damon snapped his neck just because Elena wouldn't sleep with him or whatever and Caroline's mom had told him about Damon trying to eat her dad even though her dad _was _kind of a asshole.

Yet the group obviously trusts Damon more than him?

_Why? _

And now Mystic Falls apparently has an infestation of ghosts to worry about. _Great_. Okay, maybe he couldn't punch out a ghost but still, why wasn't he allowed to help out?

"_The best thing you can do now is stay safe, Tyler. Please, for me?" _

"For you, Caroline." he says to the darkness of the room.

He is not prepared when the darkness answer him.

"Of course, it's always for Caroline isn't it?"

It's a voice he hasn't heard in three months. A voice he was both heartbroken and relieved to discover he'd never hear again.

"Jules?"

Yeah, herp derp Tyler. Ghost infestation. Everyone was probably getting visits from dead-_loved ones_- friends. No, acquaintances. Because that's all Jules was to him.

"Damn good to see you, rich boy."

He stands, and looks around the room and discovers her leaning against the far wall. Smiling at him, and he's amazed that somehow he managed to forget how beautiful she really was. Not beautiful in the same way Caroline was. Caroline is all soft and sweet, warm apple pie and sherbet ice cream. A life on the run from vampire made Jules all hard edges and rusty saw blades. Her body wasn't as voluptuous as Caroline's, spending most of her time hungry and fighting for her life had burned off Jules' curves. Her skin had been a map of scars, and her body tightly muscled and wiry. In life Jules had been like tough, weather beaten leather.

Still, she's a beautiful girl. Now a beautiful ghost. Those blue-gray eyes of hers are like the rocks on the shore of a river, and no amount of hard living could steal their luster away. Even in death, they're like portals to another world. An older, primal world that's beautiful and frightening in equal measure. He hasn't spared Jules a second thought since the day he burned her body on a funeral pyre in accordance with werewolf tradition and of course her wishes. Jules _had _helped him, even though he had been loathe to admit it because he knows that Jules hurt Caroline and that is something that she could never redeem herself for. Yet standing there, looking at her for the first time in months for a split second, his heart breaks for her all over again.

Because in spite of everything, at her heart Jules might have cared about him too?

Or because in _his _heart, he knows that he could really only be all of what he was, good and bad, animal and man, when he was driving down that empty road with Jules at his side? Not just lovers, not just siblings, but werewolves. Packmates. _Together_.

The knife in his heart twists when for the briefest second Jules' eyes water and the smug, unflappable look of superiority on her face wavers. It's both joy and sadness and she says:

"You see me." and it's like every prayer she ever made has been answered at once. There's so much relief, so much happiness in those three little words that Tyler feels his throat constrict.

"Jules, what's going on?" he manages to say, maybe the words are a little more choked than he wants them but Jules doesn't seem to register that.

In that moment, everything snaps back to status quo and Jules' face returns to its neutral self assured expression. He tilts her head forward and answers that it's all the witches fault that the dead are returning to life.

Okay. Weird even for him, but he doesn't have the time to digest the news.

"Why are you here?" He asks.

"Unfinished business." Jules shrugs. "And I'm here to offer you my congratulations. You got the girl, broke the curse…"

"Everything you always said I couldn't do on my own." Tyler reminds her, a bit angrily. Old arguments rushing up to the surface of his mind.

Jules smiles looks down and says words he'd never thought he'd hear her say.

"I was wrong. About Caroline." it kills her to say this, the words are sticking like molasses in her throat but her werewolf honor compels her to settle this matter with Tyler. "She _does _love you."

Tyler doesn't know what to say. Even after learning he was a werewolf and the town was populated with vampires and witches Tyler had to admit there were certain things he couldn't wrap his head around. Call it narrow minded, call it just plain stupid but there are still some things that take him by surprise. Jules admitting she was wrong about Caroline is one of those things he'd never believe if she hadn't said it right to his face.

"So…you approve?" Tyler asks, and even he himself is taken aback by the hopeful tone in his voice. He can't deny it though, some part of him _wants _Jules' blessing. "Of us? Me and Caroline?"

She looks up at him with a piercing glare but says nothing.

Her silence speaks volumes.

Tyler grits his teeth. He should have known. Nothing breeds contempt faster than oppression, and nothing breeds bigotry quite like contempt. Jules never had a day in her life after triggering her curse where she wasn't hunted by vampires and witches working for Klaus or Elijah. Some wounds just never heal. He's angry at her for still refusing to accept Caroline, and he's sad for her that her life was made into such hell by werewolf-hunting vampires that even when she admits she's wrong she still can't help but fear and hate Caroline.

And he's furious at himself for empathizing with her, even after everything she's done.

And he's furious at himself for all the things they did together. When the lights were out. When not even the full moon lit the sky to keep them company. When they were cold and alone and _needed_.

But that was then. This is now. Jules is dead. Caroline is alive. The past and behind him and the future is in front of him. _Jules _is behind him and Caroline is with him.

Except that even though she's dead Jules is standing in front of him as beautiful and fierce and real as the day he found her on his doorstep.

Except that Caroline's not alive, not really. Not anymore.

Today his past is staring him dead in the eye and Caroline's nowhere in sight, and…well, Tyler's always like the way she looked in those jeans.

He shuts his eyes and looks down, sick with himself. That's the old him talking. Not the new him, not the one that Caroline loves. The New Tyler Lockwood is a sweet and sensitive guy, who says his pleases and thank yous. He doesn't let the fact that Damon murdered his uncle bother him because Damon is Elena's friend and helping them look for Stefan. He doesn't let the fact that vampires are murdering werewolves bother him. He doesn't go look for other werewolves. He doesn't worry about his race's proud history, and how their culture and way of life is slowing dying out with every beating heart torn from every chest.

He has Caroline. Why should he worry about _that _stuff?

He looks up at Jules and he suddenly can't account for where the sudden stab of shame comes from. From the echoes of his memory comes the first salvo in the first-but certainly not the last-argument the two ever had.

"_I don't care about the others, I hate being a werewolf! I hate transforming every full moon! I hate that I turn into a monster! I hate it, Jules!"_

"_There's more to being a werewolf than turning into a wolf, Tyler."_

Looking back, he'd acted exactly like what he'd been his entire life during the early days. A spoiled child. A spoiled child who was for the first time in his privileged existence being told 'no' by a figure of authority.

How had she put up with him?

By slapping him down, putting him in his place. Reminding him the whys and wherefores. She gave him structure, balance, discipline. She taught him how to hunt, how to track, how to fight. How to kill. She showed him how to live a life far away from the prestige and the luxury and all the little creature comforts of Mystic Falls where the name Lockwood meant everything to a rough and brutal and savage world where the name Lockwood meant _nothing_.

She had taught him so much, in so short a period of time.

"_So, what? She's your friend now?"_

"_She's been helping me."_

But she still had had so much left to teach him. In those months he had been away, most of his education had been geared towards survival tactics and keeping his temper under control. Yet Klaus had murdered her before she had a chance to teach him anything more. Oh, she had tried to insill in him werewolf values and beliefes. Honor to the pack, loyalty to one another, and the reasons why they were what they were and did what they did but he hadn't wanted to hear it. Necessity had forced him to leave home with Jules, but in his mind werewolves were the ones who had kidnapped and tortured Caroline and tried his kill Elena. Werewolves were the ones who had messed up his chances with her and forced him to leave Mystic Falls. He may have been a werewolf, but that didn't mean he was one of them. That didn't mean he wanted to be one of the pack, that he wanted to share in the glory. He hadn't wanted to take the good with the bad, he'd only had ears for his own self loathing.

Now, as the one of the last scions of an ancient glory stares him in the face from beyond the grave he knows he's ashamed of himself for rejecting his heritage. Jules had wanted to be his mentor, to teach him about things beyond just managing all the negative things about being a werewolf she had wanted to teach him about everything else. She had wanted to take him in, make him one of them. Induct him into an old and rich and vast culture that was being exterminated for the sole crime of being stronger and faster and more lethal. Not even his own father had done that. Oh, he had spoken about the Lockwood family and how it should be honored and lived up to, but the words had never _meant _anything then. They were just more words Richard had used to beat down his own when he failed to live up to his expectations.

Her next words destroy any hope he has of swallowing his pride and asking her to continue his education.

"I don't have much time, Tyler. I'm trapped here as a ghost. I need to settle this so I can move on."

Ah yes; unfinished business, moving on. He's seen _Ghost_.

She's going to say what she has to say, or have him do something for her and she'll be gone forever. The only other werewolf he knows. Gone.

But it'll be okay, because he'll have Caroline.

"If you want me to avenge your death Alaric is working on that, but I can't kill Klaus for you Jules." Tyler insisted, closing himself off. Letting some of that Old Tyler defensiveness and hostility rise into his personality for the first time in three months.

God help him, it feels good to speak harshly to someone again.

"Who says? The doppelganger? The hunter? _Damon_?" Jules spits the name. "Who is telling you you're not good enough to fight the single greatest enemy the werewolf race has ever had?"

"Caroline." Tyler insists defiantly, puffing out his chest. "She doesn't want me to get hurt, and when she asks me to do something I do it."

"Funny, I don't remember you being so unfailingly obedient when you were with me." Jules says with a scoff.

The words hang in the air between them for a mement before Tyler says quietly.

"If I was maybe you'd still be alive." he voice is hoarse, broken.

Pained.

Jules lower lips trembles a bit, and she tilts her head to the side.

"I mean, I lost Mason. I lost _you_…" Tyler shakes his head and took a shallow breath to try and quiet the first tremors deep in his chest the are heralding the beginning of sobs. Then his chest expands as he takes a deep breath, as if defying his emotions to slip his control. "I will _not _lose Caroline to another one of my stupid mistakes. She knows what's best for me."

"She's your girlfriend Tyler." Jules insists, voice ringing. "She's not your mother. She's supposed to be your equal, not your superior."

Tyler shakes his head even though a tiny voice in his brain has just awakened, or maybe it was always there and he had just been blocking it out. It tells him she's right. Just as often as Jules was wrong about things, she was right too. He sits down on his bed, feeling nauseous.

"That's why I broke it off with you. Because I knew that I couldn't be your mate and your teacher at the same time." Jules says. "Because I knew that in the long run if I let our libido run off with my common sense it would only hurt you and I have only ever wanted to help you."

At the word 'mate' Tyler can't help but flinch. Oh yes, there had been times when they had…well, it had been a lonely time for both of them. Jules so loudly proclaiming it though…gave it impact and it brought have touch and kiss and moan slamming back to his mind hard enough to make his teeth rattle as though it had physically struck him she sits down next to him, and to his surprise the bed shifts beneath her weight. Not as much as though she was actually alive but enough, as though to tell Tyler if there was any lingering doubt in his mind, that yes she is here. This is happening.

This is, _maybe_, the faint fluttering echo of a second chance.

Tyler swallows hard and even though his lips are parched he avoids licking them because he's afraid of how she might take that.

"And for the record Tyler, I don't want you to think that I blame you for my death. Because I don't. You did what you had to do coming here to ensure your mother's safety. You looked after your own…like a _true werewolf would_."

Tyler can't even look at her. Those words, the sincerity of them…the enormity of what they mean to him don't hit him at first. But they will, and when they do he won't be able to keep himself from breaking down. Now though, all that fills him up is self loathing and doubt.

"I…" Jules takes a moment, fighting to find the words, fighting to let Tyler know her truth. "…I am _proud _that my death meant something, Tyler. That _you _made sure my death _meant _something."

Tyler looks up at her and starts shaking his head, the beginning of a thousand different ways to voice his protests all fighting for a way to erupt from his tongue. She silences them all by roughly jamming a dirty sock he didn't see her pick up into his mouth. His bulging eyes narrow, and Jules laughs. It's the first time he's ever heard it not tainted by bitterness or derision.

In that moment, it's one of the most beautiful things he's ever heard.

Her smile fades a bit, but the corners of her mouth never quite turn downward as she takes the sock out and tosses it onto the bed and says:

"And I'm here to say… I mean the thing I _need _to say to…I'm proud of you." Jules can't stop the tears that mist the corners of her gray-blue eyes any more than Tyler can hold back the ones that start to well from his brown ones. "I am _so proud of you_. You saved them Tyler. You saved _all of them_."

Tyler wants to say something then, anything.

All he can do is nod and blind rapidly, to try and hide the fact that he's not crying. Jules smile returns, is warped by her trembling lower lip and she grabs him by the back of his neck, pulls him towards her and leans in.

Not for a kiss though.

Tyler lets her pull him closer and as she does so tilts his head down and they both gently press their foreheads together, leaning on one another, eyes closed. One thing he did pick up, one old werewolf tradition Jules had forced him to honor. An old way of two werewolves showing affection, respect, and intimacy to one another. It _wasn't _romantic though. Hell, it wasn't even sexual. It was just…them.

Werewolves.

Together.

A _pack_.

He reaches up and runs his hand through her hair. It's not as smoothe and silky as Caroline's, but he finds himself not thinking of her at the moment and then…just like that…

She's gone.

Jules slips through his fingers like sand and Tyler opens his eyes and _he is so. Fucking. Gutted. _For a moment it's like Klaus ripped his heart out too but then…something happens. Even though the light level in the room doesn't change it looks…feels brighter. As though some light he couldn't quite see had suddenly filled the room in the moment Jules disappeared. Tyler looks up as -even though he's indoors and the windows are closed- a breeze that smells of every pine forest that ever existed gently brushes his cheek and stirs his hair and _he __**knows**_.

Jules has found her way home. Her fight is over.

But his is just beginning.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you want to do this?" Caroline asks, worry and fear and maybe just the tiniest bit of pride in her eyes.<p>

Tyler looks up at everyone around him. Elena, Alaric, Bonnie and Damon. Damon's lips curl and he looks directly into Tyler's eyes, letting his loathing and contempt for werewolves in general and Tyler in particular poison the air between them in ways not even his snarky comments and hissed threats could. Tyler holds his gaze until Damon scoffs in disgust and turns to pour himself another brandy.

"Yeah." Tyler says looking down at Caroline. "Yeah, I am."

Tyler picks up the phone and opens the phone book in Jules' pack's old trailer. He starts to dial the first name in the phone book. It rings twice before:

"Jules?" an amazed voice on the other end of the voice asks.

"No, it's Tyler. Tyler Lockwood…we met when Jules and I visited your pack in the Rocky Mountains to…uh…gah…transform with you?"

A pause.

"…_The _Tyler Lockwood?" and at that there's muttering from others on the other end of the line, some of it sounds surprised and excited.

Tyler doesn't quite grasp the meaning of that but Damon does and he lets out a furious, amazed bark of a laugh and then slams his drink down on the desk. Everyone but Caroline turns to shoot him a look, she just reaches out and squeezes his hande. He squeezes back and answers yes.

"Is this some short of prank? _Ray_? Is this you?" a new voice demands into the phone, a woman.

"No. No this is Tyler Lockwood. From Mystic Falls."

"…_The _Tyler Lockwood from Mystic Falls?" the voice asks stupidly, echoing the other's question.

Damon makes a rude gesture and then plops down in the chair next to him. Elena admonishes him.

"No, I will not! The little punk almost kills me and now he's the werewolf messiah?" Damon shouts.

Tyler turns to the vampire, angry and confused and tired of Damon's shit in general. Caroline reaches up and gently places her hand on his cheek. All the rage drains from Tyler's body and he returns to the task at hand.

"And now we're going to invite more mongrels into town?" Damon asks, Elena steps forward and kicks him in the shin. Tyler ignores them.

"Yeah, uh. Look…I don't know if this is a good time but…"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Whatever you want. Yes."

Tyler looks up at the others, and suddenly the enormity of how much power he's been given just drops into his lap. A chill crawls down his spine, and his sack tightens up.

"We have a situation in Mystic Falls…a…Original Vampire kind of situation." Tyler says. "We-_I_ need your help." There's silence, the alpha female relays it to her beta, who relays it to the rest of her pack. The reaction is mixed. Some want to run as fast as they can in the opposite direction, others are chomping at the bit to cross their blades with one of the mythical progenitors of all vampires.

"We'll discuss it there." The alpha says. There is protest from the beta, and a few others but the alpha ignores them. "We'll be there in three days." Tyler sputters a thank you and hangs up the phone. The others begin to talk amongst themselves. Caroline is just looking at him. He looks back at her.

"Are we ready?" Caroline asks quietly.

Tyler can't help but shrug helplessly.

Later, outside they hug and kiss and don't make out for fuck like the horny teenagers they are they just…hold each other.

And Tyler leans his forehead against hers.

Beneath the full moon that no longer holds werewolves enslaved, a gentle breeze that smells of every pine forest that ever existed gently washes over them.


	5. Isobel

Hello all.

This is probably going to be my last bit of TVD fanfic for…ever.

The fandom for this show has kind of robbed me of my enthusiasm for the TVD and writing fan fiction about it. This has really nothing to do with the folks here on the site so I don't want any of my readers to get offended or feel bad. While it is kind of frustrating that a cookie cutter Delena fic can reach fifty plus reviews five minutes after the posting of the first chapter, with all of them being extremely positive even if the author uses numbers to save time on typing out actual words, that's just the nature of fanfic. I think everyone on this site at least privately admits to themselves if they're going to do something original, they are always going to be passed over in favor of Draco/Harry slashfic #210928310548932472-48302843200.002. It's the way of things here, and indeed everywhere on the net. We accept it, roll with it and ideally we're thankful for the reviews we do get. Believe me you guys, I am thankful for you and I'm glad you've enjoyed my writing so far. It really does feel good to know that someone out there is entertained by my scribbling. That's not the issue here. The issue goes back a lot farther, to the deepest regions of the Vampire Diaries fandumb but this isn't me just rage quiting. I didn't get into a massive flame war with some barely literate Klaroline fan, I'm just…kind of disheartened.

I guess I can blame the CW for the state of the fandom. They've primarily been marketing the show at teenage girls, even though there are plenty of elements to draw in other demographics. Teen Wolf faces a similar problem, but that fandom is considerably smaller and far less organized than TVD. There aren't even any Teen Wolf fan forums yet, so I'm not nearly as fed up with them as I am with TVD. Anyway, because of the way The Vampire Diaries is marketed and because it is very much seen as "Twilight on TV" the vast majority of the fandom is teenage girls and Twilight fan refugees. This has led to…an interesting fandom to say the least. My main problem is the problem I have with the Twilight fandom. The idea that because a character is sexy and powerful they are immediately always morally right and anyone who stands up to them is morally wrong. Not just wrong, but _deserving of death _for it. We've seen it with Damon, then Klaus and now the other Originals even though other than Elijah, who's still a major dick, none of the other Original's have done a single decent thing over the course of the show. Of course Klaus should get to kill and destroy whatever he wants. He's like totally sexy, lol! I despise the Draco in Leather Pants trope, and it permeates the TVD fandom. There's no escaping it. It's kind of soured the show itself for me. When Damon actually does something decent, I'm immediately cynical about it, all because of the fan base. Ripper Stefan is an evil sleazebag…but that's because Klaus made him that way. Klaus wanted Stefan to go full ripper, and Stefan had no choice other than to go with Klaus or else his brother would have died. Yet Stefan is of course the ultimate villain of TVD, he's the _real _bad guy here! Klaus is just misunderstood! He's actually a hero! That's the kind of warped thinking that goes on in the fandom, and trust me when I say that it is the majority opinion and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I try to enjoy the characters and the show on their own merits. I just have no interest in writing fanfic for The Vampire Diaries anymore. This fic was originally going to be longer, but I just…stopped. Because my enjoyment of the characters and fascination with playing with them has just been sucked out of me.

So yeah, this is a declaration of intent as well as an apology to my readers.

I will try to write something to bring some kind of closure to Wolves on the Run and maybe I'll get around to polishing up the next chapter but until I manage to get my enthusiasm back up this is the end.

* * *

><p><strong>********Flemmingwood: The Price****\******

Tyler looked down at the body as the coroner pulled the sheet back.

Mason.

The expression on his face was indescribable, not just pain but sorrow. Grief. Defeat. Mason, the strongest person Tyler had known, the only one who Tyler had ever felt truly understood him lay on the cold slab with a hole in his chest. Beside him his mother made a sound he couldn't quite identify -maybe a gasp, but surely she had already known?- and Tyler looked away.

Animal attack. That's what they were calling it. Animal attack, a wild cougar on the prowl. Just like the cougar that had torn coach up and then drained him of all his blood. Just like the cougar that had rammed a wooden stake in Vicki's chest. Just like the cougar that had snapped his father's neck and then left his body to burn in a house full of Jane and John Does. Most of them with stakes in their heart or their heads separated from their bodies. All the work of one rabid, ravenous cougar. Or maybe a bear, there had been a few sightings of them since this shit had started. Whatever, it was all animal attacks. That's what his mother told him, that's what all the other members of the Founder's Council told him. That's what Elena and Jeremy and Caroline all told him. That's what Damon Salvatore had told him with a mocking raise of his eyebrows and a self assured smirk. A cougar.

Yeah right.

* * *

><p>Tyler stood in front of the gravestone. Mason Lockwood, beloved brother and uncle. His father's younger brother didn't have any other accomplishments to his name. At least none that anyone in Mystic Falls knew about but Tyler would never forget him. Because Mason had showed him that he wasn't alone. That he wasn't a freak, an anomaly, and he had offered him something he had never had before. Hope. Companionship. Camaraderie. Friendship.<p>

Tyler owed Mason…_something_. Justice? Vengeance? What? He had tried to uncover the real truth behind Mason's death. He'd been blocked at every turn, more often then not by the other kids at school. He knew whatever it was Caroline and Jeremy where in on it, and that had hurt. Of all the kids at school, Jeremy seemed like the only one who Tyler could maybe, possibly have any kind of connection with and Caroline…well. Tyler _liked _Caroline. He had affection for her. His feelings for her were hard to explain but when he realized she had been playing him for a fool he'd been furious. More than furious he'd been heartbroken. He knew Stefan Salvatore and his asshole brother where in on it. Hell, this had all started when they arrived into town. And he also knew that, somehow, Elena was in the center of it all.

Every time he felt like maybe he was getting somewhere, he hit another dead end and it always seemed to be either Caroline or Jeremy slamming the door in his face before he got a chance to peek inside. Matt was useless, Bonnie seemed like the only other person smart enough to perceive that something was wrong but she hated his guts and generally blew him off. Occasionally he got the feeling that maybe Meredith Fell, probably the only hot chick on the Founder's Council shared his suspicions and maybe sympathized with him but she clammed up whenever he started asking relevant questions. She was still a great lay regardless but so far pillow talk was getting him nowhere. She was a devious one, that Meredith. Always two steps ahead of him. Everyone else seemed to be five steps ahead of him.

Mason had been buried beside Tyler's father. On the opposite side of the former mayor's grave was an empty plot, reserved for Tyler's mother. The young man gritted his teeth. Richard Lockwood used to tell him as a child that as a Lockwood he would be mayor one day. Head of the Founder's Council and leader of Mystic Falls, that made the people of Mystic Falls _his _responsibility. The Lockwoods had always protected the town, ever since its founding. Tyler had never really paid much attention to the words, just more bullshit from Richard Lockwood to try and make his son feel worse about himself. As Tyler came to the realization that he was the last of the Lockwoods (other than his mother, who had married into the family) those words suddenly impacted him. Not fully, but enough for him to realize that his town was in real trouble and no one seemed to be doing anything about it. He had lost two members of his family in twice as many months, he was going to get to the bottom of what was slaughtering his classmates and the other townspeople before he had to burry his mother or before his mother had to burry him.

God help anyone-or any_thing_- that tried to stop him.

As he turned and walked away from the graveyard, he was unaware of the pair of green-gray eyes that watched him as he went.

* * *

><p>It was official. Everything, <em>everything<em>, pointed to the Salvatores. They roll into town, Stefan and then Damon and then bodies start turning up. Not the least of whom their mysterious Uncle Zach. Yet now Stefan was the new star football player and Damon was Head of the Founder's Council. A position usually reserved for Lockwoods.

Tyler sat on the doorstep of Elena's house, seething. Jeremy had all but tossed him out when he had starting asking about Stefan and outright said he was suspicious of the Salvatores.

Why were people protecting them? Why wouldn't anyone tell him anything? Tyler put his head in his hands in defeat. A tide of hopelessness threatening to overwhelm him.

How the fuck was he going to do this on his own?

The answer came in the form of the click clack of high heels on pavement. Tyler looked up to see what was quite possibly one of the most startlingly beautiful women he had ever seen coming up to drive with all the confident ease of shark gliding through the ocean. Beautiful, not quite _hot _inher conservative clothing_, _but cute. Five foot nothing and with arresting green-gray eyes. She looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. Dark hair, a necklace with some kind of blue bauble hanging around her neck. She was somehow familiar to Tyler, though he wasn't sure how. Dark haired older women were something of a weakness of Tyler's but tonight he wasn't in the mood for anything but drinking and sulking.

Then the woman smiled at him, and Tyler wasn't sure how but he was pretty sure that gravity in his general area was weakening because that smile made him feel lighter than air. It was dazzling. It was frightening. It was predatory. Normally other women were on the receiving end of such smiles delivered by him but everything in his world was turning on its head. Tyler opened his mouth to say something, but the words never made it past his throat because he realized he really wasn't sure what to say. This in and of itself was odd and something of an ill omen. If there was one thing Tyler could do, it was talk to the ladies, especially the older ones. The bored housewives who were beginning to fear the weight of gravity and time, their fat husbands starting to ignore them in favor for their perky young secretaries more silicon than flesh. A well timed smile and a few perfectly chosen compliments from a handsome young beast of a man like Tyler could impact their worlds like asteroids. Make them forget that not to long ago he was _just _south of legal. That he was the mayor's son. That their kids went to school with him.

Tyler was used to being the predator, but as the woman stopped not three feet from him he was suddenly under the impression that he was prey.

"If, uh, you're looking for Gilberts I don't live here. I'm just leaving." Tyler said, forcing confidence he didn't feel into his voice as he stood. Trying to mask his frustration with typical teenage apathy.

"That's funny, you didn't look like you were leaving. You looked like someone just kicked your puppy." the voice was pretty, to match her pretty face. Silk and honey, somehow it made his skin crawl. It was a pretty voice no doubt but it clearly masked something, some ulterior motive hidden in some mocking undertone tucked just beyond his ability to fully comprehend.

God help him, he was a bit frightened by the fact that a part of him didn't care.

"Yeah, well, the Gilberts are kind of being assholes. Just a heads up if you're going to go in there." Tyler said, sticking his hands in his pockets. She laughed, Tyler blinked rapidly as his pulse quickened. _Wow_.

"Yeah, that sounds like the good old Gilberts. They're generally assholes." she said with a nod and a little half turn.

Tyler nodded and chuckled, looked down at her feet and then back up at her, discretely checking her out as he did so. She was aware of it.

"Tyler Lockwood. You new in town?" He held out his hand.

"Isobel Flemming." She took it. Her hands weren't ice cold, but they were not as warm as they should have been. Room temperature, somehow that was...disconcerting. "Just got back in town actually. I grew up here."

"Well on behalf of Mystic Falls and the Lockwood family, welcome home." he said with a sly grin. Some of his old confidence returning. Maybe he was just off his game since being rebuked by Jeremy. Maybe he was just rusty.

"Not much of a Lockwood family left. Not after your father and uncle were murdered."

The smile faded from Tyler's face. Isobel shrugged, the tight lipped smile on her face reminded him of Damon. Knowing, condescending, arrogant. It made his hackles rise.

"You haven't been making much headway in finding out who did it have you?"

"How…how-"

"I can help you find out who did it." Isobel shrugged again, blinked a bit lazily and then tilted her head playfully. "Better yet, I can help you get back at them."

Tyler's heart pounded in his chest, fear and elation and astonishment swelling in his brain at once. Could it really be? Could this mystery woman really be offering him the answer to all his questions? Could she confirm the suspicions he'd harbored for so long?

Was she offering to help him take revenge?

It seemed to good to be true. Part of him knew it had to be, but a part of him was drawn to her, both her offer and her looks. And her personality, her aura of danger and her demeanor of control. He wanted to move, but he didn't know whether to take a step forward or backpedal in retreat. Uncertainty rooted him to the spot and silenced him. She closed the distance between them with surprising speed, looking up at him with baleful green eyes that seemed to want to devour him soul-first and raised an eyebrow. He leaned away from her, not certain he wanted to touch her even though part of him certainly _did _want to touch her. She slipped a piece of paper in his hand without breaking eye contact, and when he looked down at it she grabbed his chin in her hand and with surprising strength brought his head back up to face her.

"Come alone. Tell no one." Isobel commanded.

"Why?" Tyler asked, not as demanding as he would have liked.

She kissed him then, and it was like someone has hooked his brain up to a car battery. His flesh felt like it was going to peel off the bone, his knees actually felt _weak_ and fucking _wobbly. _The experience was a kick to the gut, the air pushed from his chest. All his strength and all his power to resist her was drained from his body like water from a leaky barrel. With that one simple kiss she had totally defeated him in a way he had never been defeated before.

"Because I'm offering you something no one has ever willingly offered you before." She finally said when she broke the kiss and let him come up for air. Tyler greedily sucked in a breath, kissing her had been stifling. Like being trapped in some ancient tomb. In some twisted way it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling.

"The truth."

Then she was gone.

It was funny, he didn't even remember seeing her go.

* * *

><p>This fic was originally going to be a lot longer. It was going to basically entail Isobel manipulating Tyler into activating his curse and then going after the Salvatore brothers. She would have ultimately paid for using Tyler in the end but the emotions would have been complicated. Alas, the rest of the storyline will probably never see the light of day.<p> 


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